The week in Tech: 5 must-know things

Mar. 2, 2013
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Visitors walk past an Ebay and PayPal stand at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The 2013 Mobile World Congress, the world's biggest mobile fair, was held from Feb. 25-28 in Barcelona. / JOSEP LAGO AFP/Getty Images

If you hate squinting at a tiny smartphone screen, you're in luck. Big smartphones were the highlight of this year's Mobile World Congress, an annual trade show held in Barcelona.

These tablet-sized phones already have a catchy nickname - "phablets." A few big phone makers showed off their latest supersize phones at the conference. ZTE's new Grand Memo has a 5.7-inch touch-screen, Huawei's Ascend Mate has a 6.1-inch display and the new Asus Fonepad has a 7-inch screen. Samsung said it sold 3 million Galaxy Note II smartphones in the first month that the 5.5-inch phone was on the market. But Apple sold 5 million iPhone 5s in the phone's first weekend. Phablets still have a long way to go until they gain the immense following of the iPhone.

Mobile World Congress was also the setting for a popular Web outfit's foray into software. Mozilla, best known for its Web Firefox browser, previewed its new operating system, Firefox OS. The system is aimed at users in smaller markets for now (Brazil, Mexico and more) who are making the transition from older cellphones to smartphones.

Firefox OS will come with an app store, Firefox Marketplace, that offers the standard set of apps expected on any good smartphone - Facebook,Twitter, etc. But the Marketplace also comes with an interesting new feature. People can use an app one time on their smartphones without actually downloading the app.

Firefox OS will roll out this summer in developing markets and in the U.S. sometime in the near future.

What your ideal honeymoon destination? Hawaii? Paris? What about Mars?

Multimillionaire Dennis Tito announced he wants to finance a round-trip visit for two spacefarers, preferably a married couple, to visit the red planet. Accommodations would include an inflated habitat module with about 300 square feet of room. Whoever takes the trip should plan on taking ample vacation time from work: The trip would begin on Jan. 5, 2018, and would last 501 days.

Be warned: Medical advisers say that astronauts traveling to Mars would face a "dangerous radiation environment" and a 3% lifetime risk of cancer.

USA TODAY's Ed Baig played around with the new Google Chromebook Pixel and said the new gadget is "an immense pleasure to use" but he's "still hesitant to recommend the machine to everybody."

The laptop has excellent design elements, with a touch screen, a "first-rate keyboard," an HD webcam and a color-changing LED light on the back cover.

But for all of its nice aesthetics, Pixel still leaves a few things to be desired. The laptop has weak battery life, limited options offline and a hefty price tag. Baig says this laptop is a good start for Google, but "Pixel isn't for the mainstream yet."

Product placement in TV shows or movies can be annoying if it's too obvious. But YouTube performers Rhett and Link are putting a new spin on the product placement game by teaming up with major corporations to make funny videos.

Rhett and Link told USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham that they make sure each video is just a sponsored video, not a commercial. In a Taco Bell-sponsored video, they sang their burrito order at a drive-up window. McDonald's paid the duo to rap about the dollar menu. Rhett and Link went big for their Trident Gum video. The two sang Lionel Richie's All Night Long while walking through the streets of Los Angeles - and yes, they sang it literally all night long.

Rhett and Link said they are lucky to be able to make money doing what they love: "We're making enough money to support two families living in Los Angeles. Producing videos for YouTube. Amazing."